From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Mollify \Mol"li*fy\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Mollified; p. pr. &
vb. n. Mollifying.] [F. mollifier, L. mollificare; mollis
soft + -ficare (in comp.) to make. See Enmollient, Moil,
v. t., and -fy.]
1. To soften; to make tender; to reduce the hardness,
harshness, or asperity of; to qualify; as, to mollify the
ground.
[1913 Webster]
With sweet science mollified their stubborn hearts.
--Spenser.
[1913 Webster]
2. To assuage, as pain or irritation, to appease, as excited
feeling or passion; to pacify; to calm.
[1913 Webster]
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
mollify
v 1: cause to be more favorably inclined; gain the good will of;
"She managed to mollify the angry customer" [syn: pacify,
lenify, conciliate, assuage, appease, mollify,
placate, gentle, gruntle]
2: make more temperate, acceptable, or suitable by adding
something else; moderate; "she tempered her criticism" [syn:
temper, season, mollify]
3: make less rigid or softer